Muscle cramps, or the involuntary contraction of muscles lasting seconds or minutes, are common. Exercise-associated muscle cramps (EAMC) are painful, and usually necessitate the subject (e.g., athlete) to cease the motions that initiated the cramps. For professional athletes, muscles cramps can have devastating and costly consequences, but most people who have cramps describe the experience as painful and would prefer the cramp be alleviated quickly or prevented altogether. Muscle cramps that occur during sleep lead to poor sleep (quality) and sleep deprivation (quantity) and therefore contribute to excessive daytime somnolence. Muscles cramps also commonly occur in association with systemic diseases or conditions or treatments for these diseases. A partial list of these includes lower motor neuron disease, upper motor neuron disease, post-poliomyelitis, uremia, cirrhosis, hypothyroidism, pregnancy, diarrhea, and hemodialysis. Because muscle cramps are ubiquitous, cause pain and suffering, cause sleep disturbance, and impair athletic performance, rapid and reliable treatment and prevention are needed.